January 9, 2012

New Year's Trip to Eagle Ranch, Port Dickson

My family decided at the last minute to take a short trip to PD for the new year... just to relax, eat and sleep :) We made a booking at Eagle Ranch Resort, PD just 2 days before we arrived. 

That's my youngest sister... she's all grown up now...
Me re-fashioned Monobos..


.
 Spot the hearts...


Chilling, eating....
That's my mum playing fruit ninja for the 1st time on Ipad 2... 


Too lazy to play beach volleyball...


Table... *duh*


sunlight & silhouette of trees


Us on a bird-watching hike... 
That's my dad....


The avid birth-watcher... 
He took so many beautiful pictures of birds..and since I did not have a zoom lens *boohoo*... I took random pictures of everything ..and everyone nearby...


My brother. 
It looked like he was posing for me but in actual fact, I took him by surprise when he was stretching. I think he did even know I took his picture :)






Huge bandwagons, where we stayed.... *a lil over-expose*. Actually quite a number of pictures are.. The sun was super sunny and bright so I couldn't really check my photos... Just snap, snap, snap....


Decided to head to the go kart track for some go-karting before checking out...





Went for some fishing after checking out..
Erm... my dad I meant...


I just went around taking pictures under the scorching hot sun... before sneaking back to the comfort of the car...



Our Their camp




It was a great trip. Relaxing.... no agenda... pure comfort...
Had some time to reflect and plan for the new year...

Take time for trips peeps... It'll do you good :)



January 6, 2012

The wedding rush begins...

Updated 20th June 2013 *Thanks to everyone who have been reading my blog or lead to this post in some way or other. This post is now more than 1 year old and since I highly doubt that the packages/ rates are the same, I would advise you to contact the hotel directly for the latest package/rate. However, if you would still like an outdated quotation or price list, please drop me an email/comment. If I don't reply after 1 week, please send me another email/ comment as some emails have been diverted to junk mail. peace :) *
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Looking around for wedding dinner wasn't easy. The things we considered important were the ambiance and the entire package provided. Some hotels seems great at first but upon viewing the ballroom... we went *erm*... instead of *wow*. Some had everything in it but the price is to high. Some had the venue but the service wasn't that good *I know I'm hard-to-please*. Oh, and the 1 thing we were very aware of its the additional cost such as additional RM4K per hour if you exceed 11pm, or extra RM15 per person if you want soft drinks or the RM12K if you want LED screen and stuff like that. 

So for brides-to-be, here are our list of wedding venues, wedding packages for 2012 and our conclusion on it:

1. Shangri-La Hotel
- Elegance Package - RM2,188++
- Glamour Package - RM2,388++
- Indulgence Package - RM2,588++

Our take : Really awesome ballroom, gorgeous and grand. But price too high. Event Executive English and service was so bad that she brought down the whole luxury and class of the brand *this shows how important staffs are*. And if you want your dinner on weekends, you have to rent the entire grand ballroom which is a minimum of I think 70-80 tables.

2. Mandarin Oriental 
- RM1,888++
- RM2,888++
- RM3,188++

Our take : Their package is 1 of the cheapest offered. They have 2 ballroom - Diamond (max 30 tables) and Grand (max of 110 tables). Not so good part - minimum spending of RM80,000 for Diamond Ballroom and RM150,000 for Grand Ballroom. So if I take RM1,888 + 16% tax * 50 tables, it will only come up to RM110,000+. Which also mean I have to add in another RM40,000 for other stuff.

3. The Westin Kuala Lumpur
- RM2,188++
- RM2,388++

Our take : Westin was my first choice. Their Asst. Director of Sales is a really nice guy. Their package is good meaning it includes everything, no additional charges, no hidden cost. However, the ballroom did not have the *wow* factor for me.

4. The Ritz-Carton, Kuala Lumpur

Our take : No quotes provided as we have to select the menu first. But their ballroom could only accommodate 35 tables and it has pillars *I'm against pillars in a ballroom*.

5. JW Marriott, Kuala Lumpur

Our tale : Proposal was RM1,950 due to our food selection. According to the Sales Personel, price normally range from RM1,600-RM1,800 depending on menu. Ballroom looks good, food is good, package also good.

6. Palace of the Golden Horses
- RM1,288++
- RM1,488++
- RM1.688++

Our take : Prices good but nah, it wasn't really up for our consideration. Just saja email them and ask :)

7. Sime Darby Convention Center
- RM988++
- RM1,199++
- RM1,388++

Our take : Everything same as hotel. Food is good. Package is good. They even have a roof garden and 2 suites up there which is included in the package. The only deciding factor is the 'convention center' vs 'hotel'.

8. Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
- RM1,888++
- RM2,088++
- RM2,288++

Our take : Old hotel, old ballroom but have a sense of old charm and class. Best value package. Really good service provided by the Catering Sales Manager. She even 'belanja' us buffet lunch when we visited the ballroom. And then we found out we graduated from the same university, meaning additional benefits for us :)

9. Doubletree by Hilton
- RM2,088++

Our take: New hotel. Contemporary design. Ballroom is big and new. But i didn't like the escalators right in front of the ballroom entrance.

10. The Pullman Kuala Lumpur, Bangsar
- Passion - RM1,588++
- Desire - RM1,788++

Our take : Brand new hotel. Biggest Pullman Hotel in SEA. We would have consider this if not for the uncertainty. It will only be expected to open mid of this year. :( At the moment, they cannot give us a guarantee, and there is no visual/photos/artist impression of the ballroom.

We also did check The Grand Hyatt, Kuala Lumpur. But same as The Pullman Hotel, it will only be expected to open mid of this year.
_______________

For brides-to-be who are interested, the ++ on the prices means include 10% for service charge and 6% for governement tax. Please email me if you want the quotes/proposal.

So that's it, today Rockstar and I 'pulled the trigger' as he so aptly *erm* put it. We put a deposit for it, signed up for a pre-wedding shoot and booked our flights for honeymoon - all in 1 day. Yeah,  I know I was so against pre-wedding shoots as I find it a waste of time and money but well, there is a long story to it - which will be explain in another post. So here goes our wedding planning....

So which hotel did you think we finally picked? :)

* addition info anded on 15.1.2013

10. Oriental Banquet, Section 10, Petaling Jaya

'The Everlasting Love'
RM 888 nett (Mon-Thurs)
RM 988 nett (Fridays, weekend, Public Holidays)

Other packages available
- RM 768 nett (only Mon-Thurs, excluding Public Holds)
- RM 888 nett (valid for 20 tables && above)
- RM 1088 nett
- RM 1238 nett (valid for 20 tables && above)


January 4, 2012

no way out

It's 4 days into 2012! Where have the days flown too? New year, new office, new hairstyle :)

It's hard getting back into work and life after all the celebration and eating... But work never cease and I realized that Rockstar and I have been so caught up with everything that we forgot to have time for each other. Oh, the little bits of time in between activities are so not counted.. 

So when he ask me what I wanted to do.. I said... Just the 2 of us. No phones, no computer, no technology, no watches, no distractions. And he agreed... tho a bit reluctant.. He can't live without his phone :) But he did live up to his promise and left his phone behind... literally :) 

So we spend the night talking and laughing... just the 2 of us..

And then as we were talking I said something that seem so light... like a passing of the wind before we caught each others eyes, stop and re-winded and exclaimed together.. "We are getting married in 9 MONTHS time!!!"..  *gosh*

There is just so much to do. First on our list is the venue for the dinner reception. We have check numerous places but have not found a suitable one that we both like. The cost of dinner is in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur is averagely RM2000 and above per table. A quick calculation for 50 tables would show RM100,000. *horror* And that's just the dinner. We still have to consider the ceremony, flowers, gowns, photography, rings, make-up, hairdo, decorations, lunch reception, wedding cake, music, invitations, entourage, and oh, not forgetting the dowry and just so much more. 

Oh... and themes and colours.. so many to decide.. so hard to choose.. and the venues are even more difficult.. now I'm caught in between a garden or outdoor wedding which can be unpredictable in Malaysian weather... or a church ceremony.. but I want confetti which most churches do not allow... and I want fairy lights. I WANT FAIRY LIGHTS!!! Its a must... so can I have a night ceremony instead? 

And then there is PMC (Pre-Marriage Counselling) to attend. Pretty scary though... So many what ifs...

Rockstar asked me whether I have any regrets... No regrets, I told him, no regrets. 

And then he said, "You already said yes, so there is no way out for you'... 

*pffttt*